1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning system for cleaning a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystalline substrate, to a method of cleaning such a substrate, to a substrate cleaning program, and to a program recording medium.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, the processes of manufacturing semiconductor parts, flat displays, or the like include the process of suitably cleaning both sides of semiconductor wafers or liquid crystalline substrates. Particularly, recent smaller-sized, higher-density patterns have generated demand for a complicated substrate-cleaning process using a plurality of cleaning devices in combination. Further, mass-production of semiconductor parts or the like requires that the complicated substrate-cleaning process be performed efficiently in a short time.
Therefore, a substrate cleaning system comprising a plurality of cleaning devices for cleaning substrates, in which the driving of the cleaning devices is controlled by a controller in accordance with driving recipes made beforehand has conventionally been used to clean substrates (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-1344
60, for example).
In the case where this conventional substrate cleaning system is used to clean substrates, an operator first makes driving recipes that prescribe the operation of the cleaning devices in the order of time. These driving recipes are then read in the substrate cleaning system by means of an input means in the system. Thereafter, faithfully following the respective driving recipes, the controller makes the cleaning devices perform cleaning operation.
There is, however, a possibility that when the controller drives the cleaning devices faithfully following the driving recipes made by the operator, the cleaning devices might collide to interfere with each other. For this reason, in the conventional substrate cleaning system, the cleaning devices are separately operated one by one, or if it is known from the driving recipes that the cleaning devices will interfere with each other, the input means refuses to input the driving recipes. Consequently, when the cleaning devices are operated one by one, a longer time is needed to clean a substrate, which can reduce the throughput of the substrate-cleaning process.
On the other hand, when the input means has refused to input the driving recipes that cause interference between the driving devices, it has so far been necessary for the operator to make again driving recipes that cause no interfere between the cleaning devices. A long time and much labor are therefore sometimes required to make driving recipes.